04/26/2010

Oil spill in Gulf of Mexico

A dead sea turtle lies on the beach in Pass Christian, Miss. Researchers from the Institute of Marine Mammal Sciences from Gulfport, Miss., collected the turtles and will examine them to determine the cause of death. May 2, 2010 (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

Institute of Marine Mammal Sciences researchers Justin Main, and Kelly Folkedahl collect a dead sea turtle on the beach in Pass Christian, Miss. The researchers were collecting dead turtles and will examine them to determine the cause of death. May 2, 2010. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

Louisiana fisherman, David Hebert, 57, returns with his crab traps taken from the Plaquemines Parish waters after government officials ruled that the catch was contaminated by the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and could not be sold. "We've been running from storms all our lives," Hebert said. "But this is worse than a storm." (Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times/MCT)

Shrimp boats are seen docked at a marina in Venice, Louisiana, after U.S. officials closed commercial and recreational fishing for a minimum of 10 days in federal waters affected by the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. May 2, 2010. (REUTERS/Carlos Barria)

David Roberts, left, and Dr. Andrew Whitehead, a Professor of Biology at Louisiana State University, gather samples of minnows for testing at Clermont Harbor in Hancock County, Miss. The samples will be used as a base line to measure the effects of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico on the coastal environment once it reaches shore. May 1, 2010. (AP Photo/Sun Herald,Pat Sullivan)

Out of work fishermen hired by BP PLC lay oil booms in preparation for the looming oil spill from the sinking of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Louisiana. May 2, 2010. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Members of the U.S. Army National Guard B Company 711 put Hesco containers along the beaches of Dauphin Island, Ala. The containers are designed to absorb oil through a fibrous material which reacts with a non-harmful material that changes the sheen to a more solid state which can be recycled. May 2, 2010. (AP Photo, Michelle Rolls-Thomas)

A large drum fish lies washed up on the beach in Long Beach, Miss. May 2, 2010. The cause of death is undetermined. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

Andrew Nyman, Associate Professor Wetland Wildlife Management & Ecology of LSU AgCenter, walks next to twisted oil booms at the coast of South Pass, south of Venice, Louisiana, where oil leaking from the Deepwater Horizon wellhead continues to spread in the Gulf of Mexico. May 2, 2010 (REUTERS/Carlos Barria)

Employees of D&C Seafood unload what they expect to be the last of the shrimp catch at their facilities in Venice, Louisiana. The U.S. government pressured energy giant BP to avert an environmental disaster as a huge, unchecked oil spill reached coastal Louisiana, imperilling fish and shrimp breeding grounds and vulnerable wetlands teeming with wildlife. The shrimp fleet is in port waiting to see if they allowed to return to shrimping following the Deepwater Horizon oil platform disaster. May 1, 2010. (REUTERS/Tim Aubry/Greenpeace/Handout)

A resident receives a registration form to work at cleaning up the oil leaking from a Deepwater Horizon drilling platform that continues to spread south of Venice. The U.S. government scrambled to ward off an environmental disaster that could cost billions of dollars as a huge oil spill reached coastal Louisiana, imperiling shrimp fishing grounds, oyster beds and fragile wetlands with a rich variety of wildlife. April 30, 2010. (REUTERS/Carlos Barria)

Fishermen of Louisiana's St. Bernard Parish wait to go through a training course which will allow them to help in the effort to fight the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. (Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times/MCT)

U.S. President Barack Obama talks after touring the Coast Guard Venice Center in the Gulf of Mexico region to view environmental damage caused by the sinking of BP's oil and gas Deepwater Horizontal drilling rig while in Venice, Louisiana. May 2, 2010. (REUTERS/Larry Downing)

Workers load oil booms onto a crew boat to assist in the containment of oil from a leaking pipeline in the Gulf of Mexico near the coast of Louisiana in Venice, Louisiana. The leak resulted from last week's explosion and collapse of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig. April 29, 2010 (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Satellite image of an oil slick (grey swirl in lower right of frame) shows its position off the Louisiana coast. The spreading oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico washed up to coastal Louisiana wildlife and seafood areas on Friday and the U.S. government and military struggles to avert what could become one of the nation's worst ecological disasters. The Venice, Louisiana peninsula is visible at left. April 29, 2010. (REUTERS/NASA/Handout)

Dr. Erica Miller, with Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research, works to give a dose of Pepto-Bismol to a Northern Gannet bird, which is normally white when full grown, yet is now brown from the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. April 30, 2010 (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Workers deploy oil containment booms at the mouth of Davis Bayou, south of Ocean Springs in Biloxi, Mississippi. Officials in Mississippi are making efforts to protect delicate ecosystems from the oil spilling from a sunken rig in the Gulf of Mexico. April 29, 2010 (John Fitzhugh/Biloxi Sun Herald/MCT)

Two brown pelicans and a flock of seagulls rest on the shore of Ship Island as a boom line floats just offshore in Gulfport, Mississippi. Several hundred yards of boom line has been set up on the north side of the island to try and contain the oncoming oil spill. April 29, 2010 (AP Photo/The Sun Herald, William Colgin)

Oil leaking from the Deepwater Horizon wellhead continues to spread. The massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is even worse than believed and as the government grows concerned that the rig's operator is ill-equipped to contain it, officials are offering a military response to try to avert a massive environmental disaster along the ecologically fragile U.S. coastline. (AP Photo/Greenpeace)

Birds fly above land in Breton Sound off the coast of Plaquemines Parish in Louisiana. Containment booms have been deployed along the Louisiana coastline as oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion approaches land. April 29, 2010 (AP Photo/Liz Condo, Pool)

A Louisiana National Guard helicopter flies over Breton Sound off the coast of Plaquemines Parish in Louisiana. Containment booms have been deployed along the Louisiana coastline as oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion approaches land. April 29, 2010. (AP Photo/Liz Condo, Pool)

A clean-up boat lays out oil booms along Port East in the Gulf of Mexico south of Louisiana, where oil leaking from the Deepwater Horizon wellhead continues to spread. April 29, 2010. (AP Photo/Greenpeace, Sean Gardner)

Birds flock around the newly placed oil booms on Breton Sound Island, on the southern most tip of the Chandeleur Islands in the Gulf of Mexico, where oil leaking from the Deepwater Horizon wellhead continues to spread. April 29, 2010 (AP Photo/Greenpeace, Sean Gardner)

Workers ready oil booms in preparation of the looming oil spill from last week's collapse and spill of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in Port Eads, Louisana. April 29, 2010. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

A workboat with oil booms is seen next to a lighthouse at the mouth of the Mississippi River in advance of the looming oil spill from last week's collapse and spill of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in Port Eads, Louisiana. April 29, 2010. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Work boats are seen placing booms in preparation of the looming oil spill from last week's collapse and spill of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in Port Eads, Louisana. April 29, 2010. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Weathered oil from a leaking pipeline that resulted from last week's explosion and collapse of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig is seen on the surface of the Gulf of Mexico near the coast of Louisiana Tuesday, April 27, 2010. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

A star fish washes ashore on the Chandeleur Islands, home of the Breton National Wildlife Refuge, off the coast of southeastern Lousiana Tuesday, April 27, 2010. The barrier islands are at risk from a growing oil spill and leak in the Gulf of Mexico caused by the explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig last week. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

A dispersant plane passes over an oil skimmer as it cleans oil from a leaking pipeline that resulted from last week's explosion and collapse of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico near the coast of Louisiana Tuesday, April 27, 2010. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

A worker looks over an oil boom as it collects oil from a leaking pipeline that resulted from last week's explosion and collapse of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico near the coast of Louisiana Tuesday, April 27, 2010. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

A satellite photo provided by NASA shows a portion of the slick, with ships visible at bottom of the frame, from the 42,000 gallon-a-day oil leak from a well in the Gulf of Mexico following and explosion at the The Deepwater Horizon platform. April 25, 2010 (AP Photo/via NASA)

Fire boat response crews battle the blazing remnants of the offshore oil rig Deepwater Horizon, off Louisiana, April 21, 2010. Eleven workers were missing and 17 injured in an explosion at the Transocean oil drilling rig, and crews were fighting the fire 16 hours later. An estimated 126 people were aboard the Deepwater Horizon at the time of the explosion. (REUTERS/U.S. Coast Guard/Handout)

An aerial photo shows oil in the Gulf of Mexico, more than 50 miles southeast of Venice on Louisiana's tip, as the Deepwater Horizon oil rig burns. The deepwater oil platform that burned for more than day after a massive explosion sank into the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday, April 22, 2010, turning what is likely a deadly blast into an environmental emergency. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

An oil slick extends far beyond the point of explosion in the Gulf of Mexico, more than 50 miles southeast of Venice on Louisiana's tip, as rescue and fire boats tend to the Deepwater Horizon oil rig as it continues to burn. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

More than 50 miles southeast of Venice on Louisiana's tip, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig is seen burning. The oil platform that burned for 36 hours after a massive explosion sank into the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday, April 22, 2010, the U.S. Coast Guard said. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Jonathan Eugene wipes his forehead while waiting with his brother, Kevin, Jr. to find out where their family can pick up their father, Kevin, Sr., a cook rescued from the Deepwater Horizon oil platform in Port Fourchon, La., Wednesday, April 21, 2010. The rig exploded at about 10 p.m. Tuesday, and 11 workers remain missing. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Emergency medical technicians rush a gurney to an awaiting HH-60 rescue helicopter at Coast Guard Air Station in New Orleans, Louisiana, April 21, 2010. Up to a dozen crew members were missing from the mobile offshore drilling unit Deepwater Horizon and at least seven were critically injured after an explosion and fire late Tuesday hit the Transocean drilling rig that was working off the Louisiana coast. (REUTERS/U.S. Coast Guard/Tom Atkeson)

A boat uses an oil boom as it tries to contain oil spilled from the explosion and collapse of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, approximately seven miles from where the rig sunk, on Friday, April 23, 2010. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

In the Gulf of Mexico more than 50 miles southeast of Venice on Louisiana's tip, a boat with an oil boom tries to contain oil spilled from the explosion and collapse of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, approximately seven miles from where the rig sunk, April 23, 2010. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

This image provided by the U.S. Coast Guard Saturday April 24, 2010 shows oil leaking from the drill pipe of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig after it sank Thursday. Coast Guard Rear Adm. Mary Landry said the leak was a new discovery but could have begun when the rig sank on Thursday, two days after the initial explosion. Bad weather has halted efforts to clean up the mess that threatens the area's fragile marine ecosystem. (AP photo/US Coast Guard)

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if one gallon of crude oil can pollute one million gallons of water, then how many gallons are going to be contaminated each day if the oil well continues to leak fortytwo thousand gallons of crude? i may not be the smartest peanut in the turd but my arithmetic says the answer is about forty billion give or take a few million ....oh my God.

Hey Obama......drill baby drill.............another black eye for the world..how many more can we possibly take...OUR world is toxic we are toxic our food chain is toxic.....jesus come quick I am waiting for you !

$2.98 trillion dollars in aid since 1970, where are the experts on capping the problem. Soon every beach in North America will be covered with burnt oil. Why is the world media placing politicians on the air instead of conferencing world class experts making recommendations on fixing the problem. Could there be a more important problem facing the world today? Wake up out there...where is Al Gore?

This looks like becoming an environmental disaster on a massive scale. When a big company tells you an accident is impossible don't believe them, though it would be nice to believe them. I don't like to think about what may happen on the beaches and the wetlands of the Deep South in the coming months. When the possible dangers in what we do are so great we have to ask ourselves is it worth it? Is leaving the oil where it is madness or is trying to extract it with our imperfect technologies madness. Taking the oil out of the ground makes a few people rich and keeps our cars going for another few years before it runs out and what then? We only have one world folks. If we &#@% it up we won't get another one.

Solar, Wave, Wind, Hydro, Tidal, Geothermal - all electric all clean, all renewable, or perpetual, if you prefer. Where is the peanut gallery of hate against these now? Have you ever heard of a "spill" at the Hoover Dam? a refueling? of course not, Mother nature does all that for us! We must learn to live with the environment, not fighting it. The Benzine molecule is a carcinogen - we know that but we are too stupid to fear that. The Prairie Wind Corridor - worth more than all the oil wells in the world - lies untouched. Will China sell us the food this spill has destroyed? When will this mess hit the beaches of Florida? Do electric bullet train networks begin to make sense yet? Soon? Time to develop the South Western U.S.A.'s solar potential? Super-insulation in homes start to look good? Heat pumps anyone? This is not pretty for America - Watch Chavez boot this ball around! We look like technological morons. The Russians laugh out loud! We can walk on the moon but we can't safely drill for oil? WTF?

This is terrible. I am glkad that BP will be held accountable for this mess!!

I have to admit that I work for an Oil & Gas company. But accidents like tis are so destructive!! Why is it so hard to stop the leaking...should there not have been a safety devicy that would have prevented this leakage!!!

The long term solution is to pour all of our resources into clean energy, not this brain dead filthy technology. The short term priority is BACTERIA. Yes bacteria that eat oil are what is deparatley needed, and they have been used in thousands of spills of hydrocarbons of all types. Oil storage tanks leave a thick tar deposit sometime many feet thick. The bacterial treatment can render the oil from tar to liquid and removable in about 10 days, or less. In fact the liquid is recyclable back to oil products. The manual back-hoe digger approach takes a whole team of respirator equipped workers about 5 weeks, and the tar has no use.